Invasion of the Star Creatures

I must have been about eight years old when I saw this on TV in the sixties. I was hesitant to watch it because I was home alone and the title seemed kind of scary. I watched it anyway and my initial reaction was that it seemed really odd. When I saw it again (and again and again)as an adult, I came to realize that a good deal of that oddness can be attributed to the low budget of the film(minimal cast,cheap sets,crude monsters and tacky - but distinctive - music). The box office appeal of the two voluptuous "galaxy gals" who were spearheading the invasion was also lost on me as a kid, as were the references to early television and the then-fledgling space program. Still, the overall kookiness of the whole thing really appealed to me at that tender age and it still does(I have a VHS copy my friend "The Alien" recorded off TV). Since, as I type this there is only one other comment for this film, there must be an awful lot of people out there who haven't seen it. The story involves a pair of dimwit army privates who discover that Dr. Poona and Proffessor Tanga(really!), two amazonian women from another world are in the early stages of planning an attack on the earth, aided by their army of "vege-men." Because their story is so fantastic(and they're so stupid)our two G.I. Jokers can't get their superiors to take action, so it's up to them to save the day. Sub-Three Stooges slapstick and brain-damaged dialogue can be found throughout,and it can't be over-emphasized that this is a very cheaply made movie. That said, I really enjoyed this film as a kid and I like it now.

This was one of those films that got a ton of play on the airwaves in the early 1970's, usually on the "4am Movie" or one time, on the 7:30 PM "Channel 6 Big Movie" and still another on Creature Double Feature.WHen local channels used to run movies as part of their local programming(mostly gone today in favor of infomercial time) It was of the time. A couple of low-rent Abbott and Costello wannabees(Frankie Ray and Robert Ball) are in a platoon of soldiers(half a dozen guys in Army Surplus remainders) who are sent on field maneuvers to look into some strange radiation, and wind up encountering extraterrestrials. They first go into Bronson Canyon to what would be later the famous Batcave on BATMAN, and encounter the remains of a dead "carrot monster". Later, in the cave they're chased by a living carrot creature-basically a guy in black suit and paper mache head, with sparkly things on it and ping-pong ball eyes. Two of them-complete geeks,Ray and Ball-are captured and wake up tied to tables and are being "examined" by space amazons-Dr Poona(nooo kidding!) and Professor Tanga who are stunningly beautiful and even moreso in their skimpy bikini "uniforms". We were too young at the time,to realize what later bondage and fetish scenarios this "examination" scene would more than suggest. Turns out that the two gals and their carrot monster, are stranded on earth with a ship that's well hidden and are trying to return to their world.

The film was made as a total comedy with varying degrees of taste but remember this was of the time when Eric Von Zipper and his crew from Frankie and Annette's films, were the height of B-film, drive-in comedy.So it only seemed a natural to jump on the bandwagon for some quick bucks.

For some reason I only thought I'd imagined seeing this film to start with. No, I really saw it. And when it was released on "restored" DVD I was assured in my memory. The comedy goes from mildly funny to just plain stupid, but whatever.The budget is non-existent, which, is a minor miracle when you think about it, that it even got made and we can talk about a "restored" version here and now-over 40 years later. The payoff is the girls who want to learn about "love" and "kissing" and, the upshot is the geeks-which all of us were- get the girls and love wins out. It's just goofy and silly and for the locations, has nostalgic significance.

Basically this film is a ridiculously silly spoof of 50s style sci-fi film cheapies. It stars Robert Ball & Frankie Ray, a poor man's imitation of Abbott and Costello, as incompetent army privates sent to investigate a mysterious radioactive cave in which they discover 7 foot plant men (yeah just guys in ridiculous costumes--there's some unintentionally funny moments later when they toss around boulders!) and 2 7-foot Space babes named Dr. Tanga (Gloria Victor) & Professor Puna (Dolores Reed) , who rather resemble some meaty lady pro wrestlers, bent on taking over the Earth and who seem to be well under way to doing so until our hero Pvt. Philbrick (Robert Ball) messes up Professor Puna's reactions by kissing her giving our heroes the chance to escape with the plant men in pursuit...actually this was fun, incredibly silly mindless stupid fun but fun nonetheless. This was actually written by Jonathan Haze and directed by Bruno Ve Sota...two old Corman/AIP mainstays.

Most bad comedies are hard to take, this four sheets to wind, jaw dropping, "I-must-be-dreaming" Stupidfest is, for some of us, a kind of movie heaven.

"Invasion" is still kind of hard to find (I went ten bucks for a bootlegged copy on ebay), it's never been issued on video, it was a bottom feeder even for A.I.P. Interestingly, a lot of mint condition poster and promotional stuff also turns up on ebay, suggesting the was pulled out of release(understandable) and sent to the T.V. showers early on.

I think Director Bruno Ve Sota, who does a cameo, really was the poor man's Orson Welles, his interesting career included staring in, and perhaps co-directing, the cult film "Dementia" (aka "Daughter Of Horror). Bob Ball, the even sillier half of Invasion's comic duo, ended up in the mime troupe in "Easy Rider." Anyway, "Invasion" like the hard to find "Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow", is worth the hunt. Space Commander Conners wants you!

This movie is on the top of my list for must get a copy of!! My TV tape is long since been worn out. I would love to find a good copy on DVD.

Many people mentioned the stereotypes and how offensive it is...geez...its kinda the point with this movie. I mean when the alien chick pulls the "kiss? What's kiss?" line, you gotta know they were going for parody city here!

My favorite thing is the long pauses between dialog with Philbert and the poor mic treatment. It sounds like they had only one boom for a huge room so everyones voices are picked up at different levels...pretty funny.

I give this one two snaps in Z formation. It is that good!